There are a variety of attack vehicles (AVs) that may employ weapons systems. Attack vehicles include ground vehicles, such as tanks and armored personnel carriers. Attack vehicles also include aircraft, such as jets and rotary propelled airplanes. Attack vehicles further include airborne rotocraft, such as helicopters, and watercraft, such as gunboats. These attack vehicles may be manned, for example, by personnel, such as drivers, pilots, or captains. Alternatively, these attack vehicles may be unmanned vehicles, such as unmanned ground based vehicles or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Unmanned vehicles may be controlled by remote operations personnel or may be autonomous, carrying out a mission with little or no human control or intervention.
Attack vehicles may employ one or more weapon systems. When an attack vehicle encounters a target, a determination is made as to the type of target and the threat the target poses. In a manned attack vehicle or remote operator controlled unmanned vehicle, this determination may be performed through human (e.g., driver or pilot) recognition, sensor recognition, e.g., automatic target recognition (ATR), or a combination of human recognition and sensor recognition. The determined target type may help determine which attack vehicle weapon system is selected to engage the target.
For a particular type of target, the attack vehicle possesses a probability of killing the target (Pkill—target) and the target possesses a probability of killing the attack vehicle (Pkill—AV) The probability of killing the target Pkill—target and the probability of the attack vehicle being killed Pkill—AV both vary as a function of the range between the attack vehicle and the target. Generally speaking, Pkill—target for a particular weapon system increases as the range between the attack vehicle and the target decreases. On the other hand, Pkill—AV also increases as the range between the attack vehicle and the target decreases.